Stephen: Come on, Ash! I'll drive. Give me the keys!
Ashlie: Err, why won't it start? Did you leave the lights on last night?
Stephen: No, I didn’t, Ashlie.
Ashlie: The car won't start. And Stephen was supposed to give me a lift to the shops.
Stephen: I think it might be the battery or maybe that petrol thingy.
Ashlie: OK, Stephen. Which one's the battery?
Stephen: Erm... is it that one?
Ashlie: Erm, that's the radiator.
Stephen: How old is this car anyway? It's always breaking down!
Ashlie: And we never know how to fix it. Come on. I'll see if I can find a mechanic and you can make us a nice cup of tea.
Ashlie: They say it's going to cost a hundred and forty pounds to send out a mechanic!
Stephen: A hundred and forty pounds?
Ashlie: That is it! We've got to learn how to fix that car ourselves. Oh, hey, have a look at this, Stephen: ‘This course is intended to help people who want to save money on car service and repair bills.’
Stephen: Let me have a look. Ah, ‘By the end of the course you will have a good understanding of car electrical systems, wheels, tyres and brakes.’ Hmm, sounds good!
Ashlie: Right. I'm going to call them to find out when the course starts.
Ashlie: This was such a good idea, Stephen. Think of all the money we're going to save on car repairs.
Stephen: Yes, but I didn't expect to be in a classroom. I wanted to get my hands dirty and work on real cars.
Ashlie: We will. But first we have to learn some theory. Theory, then practice.
Teacher: So, this is a standard four-stroke engine… So, when the piston, here, reaches the top, the spark plug, here, will ignite the fuel and push the piston back down and then...
Stephen: This is so boring. When do we start with the real work?
Ashlie: This is really useful. You have to know how it works before you can fix it.
Teacher: ...inside here – so this is a water jacket. So that’s what cools down as the piston’s moving up and down, it creates friction, which creates heat. OK. So, out of the exhaust, through the centre-box and then through the rear exhaust.
Stephen: I'm exhausted. When are we going to do some real repairs?
Ashlie: Shh.
Teacher: We're going to take a break now and then we're going to the workshop and we'll look at some brakes, OK?
Stephen: Ah! Finally!
Teacher: OK, we're going to start with some simple checks. They should only take a few minutes to do. I'll show you first and then you can have a go yourselves.
Ashlie: We should have done this course years ago. We're going to save so much money.
Stephen: Yeah, this is more like it.
Teacher: OK, well done everyone. Let's have a look at what we've learnt so far. So, who can show me how to check the oil? Ashlie?
Ashlie: Yeah.
Teacher: And how about radiators?
Stephen: Ooh yeah, me. I can do that.
Teacher: Be careful. Be careful!
Ashlie: Stephen! I told you you needed to listen to the theory!
Comments
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. For me, this website is the best to learn English every day. I started to work my English there was two months. The results, I have learnt many words of vocabulary, I improved my oral understanding but still some difficulties of pronunciations. That's why we have to work our English every day. It's very important. Today, I have learnt many words related the different component of a car.
Hi AyoubDZ93
Thanks for letting us know you find our website useful! Since you mention the topic of cars, I thought I'd also refer you to our Cars page in the Vocabulary exercises section.
Best wishes
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi Mr Kirk,
Thank you for your answer, I'm grateful to you. I will do the exercises on the topic that you have just proposed.
Best wishes 2019
Informative post I really enjoyed
That's a really great video for learning more English. I don't have and I don't drive a car, I don't know anything about car maintenance, but I own a bike and I cycle daily. And still, I wouldn't know how to change a tire or fix the breaks, I can only put the chain back if it falls off. I need to take up a course for fixing bikes!
Oops, I made two mistakes here, or is there any more? :D
"...change a *tyre* or fix the *brakes* ..." I really need to study this lesson well.
Hello everybody.
I'm from Porto Alegre, in Brazil. I'm an English teacher and I also teaches Portuguese for foreigners. In fact, I have a student from Liverpool who lives here and he's a nice guy.
Well, thanks for all the videos! They're really great and always save my day as a teacher. Thank you very very much!
Regarding the subject of this video, I should say that I really would like to be able to fix cars. I used to have an old Fusca (VW) and after some time I ended up learning some of the basic things in mechanics, but I would like to know more.
Thanks again!
Have a nice day, Kirk and the team,
My name is Van, from Hanoi, Vietnam.
I have one question: what should I say when I want to ask someone to make his / her hair in a bun, in stead of let it flow freely on his/ her shoulder? And besides, should I use the word "his/her" or "their" in this sentence?
Thanks.
Hello Van,
We usually contrast 'wear your hair long' or 'let your hair down' with 'wear your hair in a bun' or 'tie your hair up'.
You can say either 'his or her' or 'their'. I think 'their' is more common in modern English.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Thanks Peter :)
Pages